Re: Do you ever wish bourbon did not contain ethanol?

Originally Posted by CoMobourbon

Yeah, this.

The whole 'taste OR alcohol' dichotomy is a false one. Besides the extra pleasurable effect of alcohol on the brain, alcohol actually intensifies flavors (especially sweet ones). And, obviously, alcohol itself has a certain taste factor that contributes to the whole taste experience. The 'effect', then, is both pleasurable in itself and bound up with the taste. Maybe we wish we could drink more without getting too drunk, but it is naive to think that we would actually enjoy whiskey without alcohol just because we want to avoid getting too drunk. At best, it would be a radically different experience - not the same taste experience without the ethanol. (think non-alcoholic beer, like KyDram mentioned)

I couldn't agree more.

I like how alcohol brings flavors all the way though my sinuses, If you get my drift.

I wouldn't want to give up the intoxicating effect of alcohol, But I have often wished the effect between three and five drinks was only a half a drink apart. Being buzzed is pleasurable, being too drunk is not. and hangovers are not fun

Re: Do you ever wish bourbon did not contain ethanol?

Originally Posted by SFS

Your generalization that "the psychoactive effect of the ethenol [sic] is essential to the experience" is not true for everyone. It is precisely the opposite of essential to me. That's kinda why I started the thread. If that wasn't clear from the OP, perhaps that's because the ethanol had an effect. See my point?

How do you know that's the case? You've never had whiskey with the ethanol removed, how do you know you would like it? How do you know removing the ethanol wouldn't remove an essential aspect of the whiskey for you? This is all just theory, and unrealistic theory at that.

Our body allows us to experience pleasure, and really, anything we put in our body is intoxicating in one respect or another. Isn't the obesity epidemic in our society directly related to 'not wanting the tasting to stop?' People ingest far more calories than they need on a daily basis because they are addicted to tasting food. The food industry had certainly endeavored to remove calories from taste, but most would argue that it has not been successful. When smoking was announced to cause cancer, heart disease and other ailments, the birth of the light cigarette was born.

Perhaps you would prefer that a scientist track down the path your favorite whiskey takes in your brain while it stimulates taste and then have that scientist recreate the path synthetically so that you don't have to take in the actual substance in order to experience it. Sounds creepy to me.

"A man comes from the dust and in the dust he will end-- In the meantime it is good to drink whiskey."
-->WhiskeyWonka<--

Re: Do you ever wish bourbon did not contain ethanol?

Or if someone was a chemist (cough, shuffle) they could develop a wand coated with a substance that bonded to ethanol and only ethanol. A swish of the wand and through the magic of molecular recognition the amount of ethanol in the juice would be reduced. Basic molecular recognition exercise, no problem.